ASMD 2023 Directors Forum

We held our ASMD 2023 Directors Forum on January 31, 2022-February 3, 2023 in Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio. Elizabeth Pierce, President & CEO of the Cincinnati Museum Center, and Tracey Tomme, President & CEO of the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery, co-hosted the meeting. A day trip to Dayton featured the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Boonshoft Museum, their SunWatch Indian Village and Archaeological Park, and Carillon Park, including the National Wright Brothers Museum and the Heritage Center of Manufacturing and Entrepreneurship. We ended our day trip to Dayton with an authentic German dinner and local beers in the Carillon Brewing Company, the nation’s only fully operational production brewery in a museum. We were based in Cincinnati where we explored the beautifully renovated Union Terminal and the Cincinnati Museum Center museums and facilities. We also visited their Geier Collections Center and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center with their Leadership Teams and had a wonderful dinner in the Cincinnati History Museum’s Public Landing exhibition sponsored by the SSA group.

The program committee targeted hot topics for discussion including partnerships, collaborations, ensuring diverse voices and perspectives, sensitivity to changing staff expectations, and digital assets and distance and STEM learning. Leadership teams from all of the museums we visited addressed such issues throughout the Forum. We had our traditional hot topics presentations from Laura Lott, President & CEO of AAM, and Christofer Nelson, President & CEO of ASTC, and learned about operations and issues from leaders at the U.S. Air Force Museum, Ohio History Connection, Carillon Park, and from our host museums. Guest participants from Ohio History Connection discussed ways to honor early American Indian earthworks and foster strong relationships with current tribes, which provided a valuable follow up to our discussions at the Burke Museum during our 2022 Directors Forum in Seattle. Our ASMD panel discussion (“Welcome to the Post-Pandemic World of Human Resources: a Discussion of Trends and Survival Strategies”) addressed an issue that rose to the top at our 2022 ASMD breakfast meeting at the AAM annual meeting. William Harris, President & CEO of Space Center Houston, chaired the panel, which also included Christian Greer, President & CEO, Michigan Science Center, and Steve Black, Senior HR Manager for Brixey & Meyer in Miamisburg, OH. The panel generated productive dialog with ASMD members in the audience and continuing communication on strategies following the meeting. We hope you did not miss this opportunity to strategize with other directors in the informal retreatlike atmosphere that is a hallmark of our meetings. Access the Final Program here to refresh your memory of this outstanding Directors Forum or to see what you missed. Attendance at our meetings requires active membership in ASMD. Member Directors may invite and register an Associate Director. The ASMD President may invite other Museum or Association Directors. Membership applications are available on this website.